Baking & Snack - June 2024 - 28

JTM FOODS
Left: Each day, the
bakery goes through 20
to 25 batches of dough,
which is filled then
folded before the pies
are sealed.
Right: After filling and
sealing, 2-oz pies move
to the fryer.
Workers receive monthly online training about food
safety and various other subjects, and supervisors and
other leaders receive training for their roles. The company
is dedicated to promoting exemplary workers as
opportunities become available.
" We love promoting from within, " Amboyer said. " I
started as a maintenance mechanic 25 years ago. Now
I'm senior vice president of operations. ... We find really
good line operators, and we provide them with the skills
to become leaders. "
Hourly throughput is tracked at JTM's facilities and
performance metrics are discussed daily, Amboyer said.
" We know we're going to have bad hours, " he said.
" The goal is to have more good hours than bad hours.
If we had a bad hour, what can we learn from that to get
better on the next hour? "
Before Wichita started production, Plant Manager
Cole Carpenter spent four months at the Erie facility
learning the processes and equipment, spending time
with the plant manager and maintenance team.
" I wanted to learn how the equipment runs so if my
employee comes to me and says, 'Hey we're having
trouble,' I can help them out and get through the day, "
Carpenter said.
The plant's scheduling is done out of Erie, and the
facility is cleaned after every shift. The plant is SQFcertified,
has a HACCP team for the pie production line
and is kosher pareve certified.
Advocates for handheld pies
JJ's Snacks has 10 everyday handheld pie flavors
- Apple, Cherry, Peach, Lemon, Lemon Cream,
Chocolate, Strawberry Cream, Boston Cream, Banana
Cream and Blackberry - in addition to about eight limited-time
offers (LTOs) that are often seasonal, such as
Caramel Apple in the fall or S'mores in December. New
flavors are both in-house creations as well as requests
from customers.
" We're into yes, " Pooley said about JTM's willingness
to collaborate and try new varieties. " If I've got a private
label partner that has the type of scale and is interested
28 Baking & Snack June 2024 / www.bakingbusiness.com
in doing an item, we're about figuring out ways to take
an opportunity and address that opportunity in a productive
way with our partners. "
Although JTM produces hundreds of millions of pies
annually, it credits the R&D team with the company's
ability to react quickly to customer requests.
" We're big enough that we can come with an R&D focus
and innovative focus, and we have those resources,
but we're small enough that we can be relatively nimble, "
Hinsdale said. " We've got an internal group that want to
make it happen. "
" THE STRIVE FOR QUALITY NEVER
ENDS. EVERY DAY WE WANT TO
BE A LITTLE BIT BETTER THAN
THE DAY BEFORE, REPEATING
THAT CONSISTENCY EVERY DAY. "
Joe Amboyer, JTM Foods
Leaders estimated that the company has upward of
50 different pie recipes, which are developed by Kelly
Bostwick, JTM's director of quality and R&D, who is the
brains behind pie formulations. Apple is the No. 1 flavor
and Cherry is No. 2, which make up a majority of the
pies JTM makes.
" It's like vanilla and chocolate, " Pooley said. " Apple
and Cherry represent 60% to 65% of our business. The
rest are all terrific; they're all our children. "
Of the hundreds of millions of pies JTM produces annually,
about 45% are JJ's Snacks, 35% are private label
and 20% are co-manufactured brands. That means the
company is supportive of all growth for the handheld
snack pie category.
" If the category is winning, JTM wins, " Pooley said.
" What we want to do is put out solutions that make sense
for our partners who will drive the category. That's how
we'll win, and that's how we believe our partners will win. "
Company leaders understand that there is more space
for the handheld pie category to expand, and that is why
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